Oliver Twist
said the girl, after a short pause.
‘Never,’ replied the gentleman. ‘The intelligence should
be brought to bear upon him, that he could never even
guess.’
‘I have been a liar, and among liars from a little child,’
said the girl after another interval of silence, ‘but I will take
your words.’
After receving an assurance from both, that she might
safely do so, she proceeded in a voice so low that it was of-
ten difficult for the listener to discover even the purport of
what she said, to describe, by name and situation, the pub-
lic-house whence she had been followed that night. From
the manner in which she occasionally paused, it appeared
as if the gentleman were making some hasty notes of the
information she communicated. When she had thoroughly
explained the localities of the place, the best position from
which to watch it without exciting observation, and the
night and hour on which Monks was most in the habit of
frequenting it, she seemed to consider for a few moments,
for the purpose of recalling his features and appearances
more forcibly to her recollection.
‘He is tall,’ said the girl, ‘and a strongly made man, but
not stout; he has a lurking walk; and as he walks, constantly
looks over his shoulder, first on one side, and then on the
other. Don’t forget that, for his eyes are sunk in his head so
much deeper than any other man’s, that you might almost
tell him by that alone. His face is dark, like his hair and eyes;
and, although he can’t be more than six or eight and twenty,
withered and haggard. His lips are often discoloured and